


"Two Points!"

by janai



Series: The Early Years [4]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janai/pseuds/janai
Summary: The Doctor and Rose. A mutual bout of the flu...
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: The Early Years [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569187
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	"Two Points!"

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, do not have the flu but a sore throat. This short story came to mind as I was driving to the drugstore to pick up medicine and I remembered a similar event that took place my ex and I a few years ago. :>)  
> This short story takes place after 'New Christmas'.

Flu season came early to London that year. 

Unusually cold wet weather had settled over the country well before the Holiday Season; so miserable in fact, that many folks just wanted to slap something (or someone) when they ventured outside. A new flu strain, as well as other viral and bacterial infections, had inundated medical offices and hospitals. With the extra demand for flu vaccines, the city was experiencing frequent shortages.

Torchwood, however, had plenty on hand and 99.95% of the employees had dutifully reported to the infirmary and received their dose. The one notable exception was the Doctor, who felt that he was still alien enough to resist the flu. He graciously had donated his dose to the remaining which were donated to those with special needs.

*********************************

January 10th, in the flat shared by Rose Tyler and the Doctor.

"Achoo!!" The Doctor's voice was rough and wet sounding; he was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and he was shivering slightly from a fever. The Doctor, of course, had contacted the new strain of flu and was a miserable, aching ball of metacrisis. He pulled a tissue from the box sitting on the couch and heartily blew his noise clear of gross looking slime. His clogged sinus were actually draining at the moment; he sincerely hoped they would clog back up. Quickly!

"'Choo!" Rose had a quieter, high pitched sneeze (one the Doctor normally picked on her about). She grabbed a tissue from the box that rested between them and dabbed at her reddened noise. She was also wrapped in a blanket and shivered from time to time.

"Oi - choo!!"

New tissue.

"'Chee!"

New tissue.

They had been blowing their noses so often in the past hour that they had tired of getting up to throw the used tissue into the trash bin. 

They had been told to stay home and treat the symptoms. The low table in front of the couch was covered with bottles of medicines and sprays, supplements, a jar a honey, three jam jars, a teapot covered with a cheerful cozy, two mugs, several opened packages of biscuits and an empty bottle of orange juice. The telly was on and they had been watching, ore or less, a Red Dwarf marathon. When they weren't sneezing, coughing or blowing their noses, that is.

"Rubbish!" he moaned pitifully, "The Human body is rubbish. Not to mention primitive What I wouldn't give to have my respiratory bypass and superior disease resistant genes again." He sniffed deeply trying to avoid blowing his nose as it, like Rose's, was very red and irritated. He stared at the ceiling as he tried to mentally diminish the illness and its aggravating symptoms with his superior Time Lord brain. His all too human body was having none of that.

"Achoo, achoo, achoo! Bloody hell!" Cough, hack, spit(into a new tissue).

Rose had developed a less potent non-flu viral strain, which was also sweeping the land, and felt almost as bad. As miserable as she felt she grinned and rolled her eyes at her boyfriends complaints. While she pretty much felt the same way, she knew they were in it for the long run and had gracefully accepted her fate. Unlike, of course, her superior part-Time Lord/human hybrid. Pulling a tissue from the rapidly emptying box, she blew her noise as gently as possible. Ouch.

In a tiff, the Doctor wadded the wet tissue into a ball and lobbed it at the trash bin by the telly, a good 3.048 meters (10') from the couch. The little ball arced gracefully through the air and landed into the bin with a 'plop'.

"Two Points!" He croaked as he raised his trembling arms up into the air. His ire forgotten, he looked over at Rose with a manic grin plastered on his red, blotchy face. "Betcha can't land one in the bin," he waggled his brow. His face screwed up as he let out with another wet sneeze.

She stared back at him, certain that he was losing his sanity by the crazed look on his face. A challenge, however, was a challenge and she rose to it like a trout to a fly in a stream. She looked down to where she had been putting her used tissues, picked one up, and threw it overhand. The tissue performed a equally graceful arc in the air and landed on the floor by the bin. 

"Missed! Ha!" the Doctor crowed gleefully and then was overcome by a dry hacking cough which sounded like it had emanated from his toes.

Rose gave him a sour look, wadded up another two spent tissues and lobbed it; the wad bounced off the wall and landed squarely in the bin. She threw her arms up in the air like he had in celebration.

"Two Points! Ha!"

Not to be out done, the Doctor threw another wad which clipped the lip of the bin and bounced down to the floor. He pouted as she beamed and the game continued thus until both were too tired to do more than deal with their misery. 

The final Score:

The Doctor: 46  
Rose: 47


End file.
